Half of all teen mums in New Zealand come from poorest areas, Ministry of Health finds

Despite teen pregnancy rates halving since their peak in 2008, numbers remain consistently higher for women in the country's poorest areas. Photo / 123RF

Half of all teen mums in New Zealand come from our most deprived neighbourhoods, raising questions about access to health care and information.

The Ministry of Health's latest report on maternity says despite teen pregnancy rates halving since their peak in 2008, numbers remain consistently higher for women in poor areas.

Data from 2015 showed just 4 per cent of teen mums lived in the most affluent suburbs, compared to 53 per cent in the most deprived.

Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond said part of the reason for the discrepancy could be attributed to the health system.

"We know from overseas that where's there's higher deprivation there's less accessible health services and information. Teen pregnancy is no different to other health issues," she said.

"For young women in those areas, the choices and opportunities are different."

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High teen pregnancy rates have long been a cause for concern in New Zealand, with outrage reaching fever pitch in 2008, when 33 in every 1000 teenagers had a baby.

That number is now down to 16 in every 1000, our rates falling in line with an international trend.

Overseas, the drop has been partly attributed to changing habits among a younger generation, who - arguably due to social media - go out less, have sex later than their predecessors. Better sex education has also been a factor.

In New Zealand, while those things may also have played a part, Family Planning believes it is more likely that a subsidy for the long-term contraception Jadelle has made an impact.

Jadelle, which is inserted in the upper arm and last five years, was made free - but for the $5 subscription fee - in 2010.

Figures from the Ministry of Health show that the following year, doctors issued four times as many prescriptions, with an average 3000 women a year getting a Jadelle implant since.

Edmond said while the contraception was more available, if young women did not know about it or were unable to get to a health centre, that was still an issue.

Her comments echoed a 2016 report from the Women's Health Research Centre at the University of Otago which said the two leading barriers to healthcare for Maori teen mums (who were more likely to live in deprived areas) were a lack of knowledge about how to access services, and a lack of transport.

It said the model "disempowered" young women, then blamed them for not accessing care.

The Government has recognised there are barriers to contraception for those on low-incomes, introducing a grant in 2012 for beneficiaries to access long-term contraception. It covered transport fees and pharmacy charges.

However, the website Newsroom reported earlier this year that only about a third of the numbers budgeted for accessed the grant in five years - with only 8 per cent of those for teens.

Experts again argued a lack of knowledge was an issue, alongside the difficulty for young people of discussing a sensitive topic with their case worker at Work and Income to access the grant.

Green Party spokesperson on women's issues, Jan Logie, said there were other, more complicated reasons for teenage pregnancy to be linked to poverty.

In her experience as a youth worker she said those in deprivation also struggled with mental health, and maintaining a positive outlook on life.

"Some people felt their lives were of less value and couldn't see a pathway for themselves in our society. Therefore they had less in investment in delaying or being able to assert their right to safer sex," she said.

"Poverty, depression, hopelessness - they're not in a place where they're going to be focussing on contraception."

However, Logie said, equally, some young women wanted a meaningful role in society and hoped being a mum would enable them to contribute.

"There is a stigma around that, often, that gets turned around by people who say they're just having babies to get benefits," she said. [But] young parenting can be turned into a positive if people are supported."

Teen pregnancy is generally viewed as a poor life choice. It was "widely accepted" that it had long-lasting socio-economic effects on women due to interrupted education, reduced earning potential, career prospects, and "generally" being emotionally and socially unprepared for childrearing.